Odense, Denmark, September 20, 2014. Slovenia managed to win two match-ups on the first competition day in Pool A of the 2nd Round in the men’s 2014-2016 CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup on its way to the semifinals in Odense. In Sunday’s semis, the Slovenes will face Luxembourg and Hungary will meet Croatia.
Slovenia beat Luxembourg in the only first round clash. Then, in the second round, it outplayed Croatia, while Hungary defeated Iceland. In the only losers’ bracket match-up, Luxembourg overpowered Iceland to book the last semifinal spot.
Slovenia 2, Luxembourg 0
Slovenia had little trouble winning the first match-up of the day in Odense against Luxembourg. Jure Peter Bedrac / Danijel Pokersnik shut out Ben Angelsberg / Djamel Bernard Belhaouci by 2:0 (21-15, 21-11) in 34 minutes and Leo Mohoric / Klemen Ponikvar beat Gil Nizard / Andy Koenig by 2:0 (21-11, 21-11) in 31 minutes.
Hungary 2, Iceland 0
An hour and three minutes was what Hungary needed to win by 2 victories to none against Iceland in their first match-up of the day. Mate Leiszt / Izsak Soos showed absolutely no mercy for Iceland’s Hafsteinn Valdimarsson / Kristjan Valdimarsson taking less than half an hour to sweep the game by 2:0 (21-8, 21-12). Gabor Nacsa / Laszlo Racz needed a bit more time, 35 minutes, to close their match against Theodor Oskar Thorvaldsson / Ludvik Mar Matthiasson. The Hungarian 2-0 win became a reality after a 21-15 win in the first set and 22-20 in the second.
Croatia 0, Slovenia 2
After the win earlier today Slovenia was ready to face Croatia. Croatia’s first pair Ivan Zeljkovic / Filip Silic lived up to their team’s top seed in the main draw in the first set winning it by 21-18. That woke up Slovenia’s Leo Mohoric / Klemen Ponikvar, who took the second set by 21-15. The third and decisive set was close all the way to the end, but Slovenia made the upset a reality winning the tie-breaker by 15-12 and the match by 2:1 after 51 minutes. That raised the pressure on Niksa Dell’Orco / Ivan Djordjevic from Croatia in the second match. They fought well and tried to find the key to unlock Slovenia’s defence, but without luck. Jure Peter Bedrac / Danijel Pokersnik needed 35 minutes to hammer out a 2:0 (21-15, 21-19).
Jure Peter Bedrac, player of Slovenia: “We are neighboring countries, so we know each other very well. Even though we were behind in the second set almost to the end, we know when to play really well. We always play to win, but reaching the final is the most important for us as the two best teams proceed to the third round of the Continental Cup.”
Luxembourg 2, Iceland 0
Gil Nizard / Andy Koenig from Luxembourg faced Iceland’s Hafsteinn Valdimarsson / Kristjan Valdimarsson to start off the last match-up of the day in Odense, which was decisive for the last spot in the semifinals. The two teams displayed some high-quality volleyball in the first set as Nizard / Koenig won by 21-19. After 40 minutes in the sand Luxembourg had won the second set by 21-17 and the match by 2:0. Ben Angelsberg / Djamel Bernard Belhaouci and Theodor Oskar Thorvaldsson / Ludvik Mar Matthiasson faced each other in the other match. And again, the Luxembourgish team was too strong for its Icelandic opponent, winning the match by 2:0 (21-14, 21-17).
Ben Angelsberg, player of Luxembourg: “We started well with high quality in our reception and our side-out. So we immediately put ourselves on top of the game. It was a good win for us. We knew that we could play against Iceland, and we proved that today. I think it will be a close match against Slovenia tomorrow, and we hope to win, but they are very experienced.”
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